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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

reissue of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Greatest Hits, originally released in 1993, has gone on to be the best selling collection in the band's four decades and counting career. Over seven times platinum, this collection now has been remastered, upd

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He's sold millions of albums, filled arenas, and hobnobbed with George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison, but Tom Petty's driving heartland rock has often been taken for granted by the same critics who hail John Mellencamp as a genius. Greatest Hits is an airtight argument for Petty's own greatness. Starting with "American Girl," the rollicking, Byrds-inspired single from Petty's first album in 1976, this compilation presents a chronological overview of the guitarist-vocalist's career with and without the Heartbreakers, also chronically underrated as one of today's best bands. Every one of the 16 older tracks is a well-crafted gem, full of solid guitar hooks ("Here Comes My Girl"), arresting images ("Don't Come Around Here No More") and simple but poetic lyrics ("The Waiting").

Petty isn't an innovator; he's a talented craftsman with impeccable taste and a strong sense of rock history, internalizing influences ranging from the Beatles' psychedelic masterpiece, Revolver, to the best of '70s punk. (It's interesting to remember that early efforts such as "Refugee" and "Don't Do Me Like That" first won Petty attention as a New Wave artist). With his Dylanesque vocals and chiming 12-string guitars, Petty is more often linked these days with the sounds of the '60s. But recent tunes such as "Learning to Fly" and "Into the Great Wide Open" are as smart, relevant and (dare I say) alternative as anything in MTV's Buzz Bin. --Jim DeRogatis

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

Do not be fooled by this newest "Greatest Hits" collection released for Tom Petty as it is the same as the package released in 1993 with one minor and one major exception. Additionally, the proclamation that this contains 'EXTRA TRACKS' is completely misleading.

The minor exception is that they have simply changed the cover and the major exception is that they REPLACED the last track on the first Greatest Hits ("Something in the Air") with the Petty/Nicks collaboration "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around." Hence, there are no EXTRA tracks, but simply a substitute of one for another! "Something in the Air" was an exclusive track and cannot be found on any other Tom Petty collection. Adding "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" as the last track also interrupts the chronological order of the first 17 songs, as it was released in 1981 and follows his 1993 track "Mary Jane's Last Dance." As of this writing, the first Petty hits collection is still in print and about two bucks cheaper. However, I cannot imagine the record companies keeping both available.

As far as the songs go, both of these collections include Petty's biggest hits up to 1993 such as "Refugee," "Don't Do Me Like That," "The Waiting," and "I Won't Back Down" and it is second only to the two disc anthology titled "Anthology: Through the Years" which I would recommend over this one if you prefer a more comprehensive overview of Petty's work as that collection includes his hits up to the year 2000 and has everything that is on here at a very good price.

If you already own the first "Tom Petty's Greatest Hits" you can always just download "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" if you need that song. As far as a one disc collection goes I cannot imagine one being more thorough than this one. Minus one star, however, for the redundancy and misleading information regarding 'extra tracks.'

The first greatest hits collection by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers covering from 1977 to 1993 does omit some material, such as "Jammin' Me" from 1987's Let Me Up, but on the whole, serves to demonstrate their impact on the late 1970's through early 90's music scene. Key[]=original studio album.Petty's first single, "American Girl" defined the sound he brought to American music. The title character was "raised on promises/she couldn't help thinking that there/was a little more to life." It also regained popularity as the song Buffalo Bill's victim was jamming to in Silence Of The Lambs. [Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers]The downbeat "Breakdown" from the same album, is a statement of connection from a man to a woman."Listen To Her Heart" throws verbal punches at the wrong kind of man with designs for a girl, and that opening guitar is wonderful, especially as the drums kick in. Petty really socks it to me: "She's gonna listen to her heart/It's gonna tell her what to do/She might need a lot of loving/But she don't need you." [You're Gonna Get It]The "is she free or isn't she free?" dilemma is explored in the rockingly engaging but poignant "I Need To Know": "I need to know(I need to know)/Because I don't know how long/I can hold on/And if your makin' me wait/If you're leadin' me on/I need to know(I need to know)." [You're Gonna Get It]Tom Petty's signature tune, taken from Damn The Torpedoes, is hands-down my favourite. The narrator comforts a girl who's had a rough, tumble-down life and surmises "Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have/Kicked you around some/Tell me why you wanna lay there/Revel in your abandon" And the message in the chorus: "You see, you don't have to live like a Refugee.Read more ›

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Greatest Hits pulls together 18 great tracks from one of rock's most legendary yet still underrated groups, covering Petty's career from 1976 up through 1993. Of course, Petty has released several classic albums since this GH CD was released, but this album provides fans unfamiliar with the consistency and strength of Petty's early years the chance to see that something good did indeed emerge from the musical doldrums of the 1970s. Petty's whiffs and raw, throaty vocals were a proverbial breath of fresh air during the days of disco. At the time, the music was characterized as new wave, if you can imagine that, but the heart of Petty's music has always been in America's heartland; while he has successfully incorporated a number of musical stylings over the years, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers remain the embodiment of classic rock 'n' roll.The band's 1976 self-titled debut album barely made a ripple in America until the band found success in the UK - then, America took notice of the first single Breakdown and the rock classic American Girl. You're Gonna Get It was released in 1978 and supplies the tracks Listen To Her Heart and I Need to Know. Much greater success was waiting in 1979 when Damn the Torpedoes saw the light of day, and this GH collection features four unforgettable tracks from that breakthrough album: Refugee, Don't Do Me Like That, Even the Losers, and Here Comes My Girl. It's hard to believe Refugee maxed out at number 15 in the US charts, as the song was all over the airwaves at the time. These four songs reflect the growth and maturation of Petty & the Heartbreakers as they truly began to establish a rock 'n' roll legacy.Read more ›